Apotheosis:Prologue 1
Author's Note An upcoming Era 2 teaser. I'm mainly writing this now so I don't forget it later on. Apotheosis is my main Era 2 storyarc, featuring new protagonists Diana and Isaiah, two siblings wielding the power of Balance, and Zenith, a wielder of arcane arts. Prologue 1 Zenith was having a bad day. Monsters roamed her world. More people disappeared every day. The Multiverse was dying. And to top it all off, she had lost her father's scarf in the storm. She wandered aimlessly through the woods, through the stinging rain that pelted her like a hail of bullets. She squinted through the frigid wind that tore through the trees. A midnight-blue cloak fluttered from her back like a flag, and in two hands she gripped a long, wicked scythe which she used to cut the brush in her way. "Gods dammit!" she shouted above the tempest, and finally slammed the blade into the thick trunk of the nearest tree. She took a moment to calm down, and wrapped her cloak as tightly as she could around her slender frame. She shivered as the cold bit her skin, and almost cried. "Stupid...fucking..." grumbled Zenith, unsure of exactly what to curse at. It was at times like these that she really wanted to kill something. It seemed fate would be merciful in that regard. At the opposite end of the clearing she saw a dark shape emerge; as it entered the clearing, she began to discern its form. It was a white-skinned thing that pulsated, bearing two arms and legs that ended in claws, a head with no eyes and a massive, gnashing maw. Several more followed. Zenith couldn't help but flash a wolfish grin. She grabbed her scythe. Perhaps the day wouldn't be so horrible after all. "Ciphers...how serendipitous," she said. "I need to vent. Let's dance." A primal fury gripped her heart as she felt her body fill up with a new energy. Her vision flashed red as she lunged forth for the attack. Her scythe plunged into the torso of the first cipher. It crumpled under the brutal attack, and a black substance spattered over the tip of her blade. She tore the scythe from it's body, splitting open it's side and letting the dark blood pour out. The creatures hissed and snarled at her; one's jaw dislocated, opening impossibly wide, hissing and pointing it's razor teeth at her. With a cruel laugh, she whipped her scythe around and sliced the creature in two. She was a flurry of motion, a feral berserker. The ciphers lunged at her with claws and teeth, and, even when they scored wounds on Zentih, she ignored the pain and kept up the assault. She was giddy, light-headed and drunken with bloodlust. After she felled the last monster, she stood for several minutes in the clearing, spattered with red and black blood and surrounded with bits of cipher. Her breath was heavy- almost coming out as a bestial snarl. The rain continued to beat down, but the cold no longer bothered her. Her eyes were wild, darting around in their sockets. "Anyone else?!" she shouted to the sky. "ANYONE?!" Her ears caught a rustling sound. She lunged around, screaming with fury, about to slice whatever it was to ribbons- and then she stopped. Her scythe was inches away from the neck of a small girl. The girl didn't scream. She only cowered in fear, clutching a younger boy protectively in her arms. The two children couldn't have been more than twelve and six years old. They were a rugged sight. The girl's longer, emerald-green hair was tangled, and the boy's bright-red was uneven and unkempt. Their clothes were torn, and they were spattered with mud and various cuts. Zenith lowered her blade, swallowing her bloodlust with difficulty. "Poor kids," ''she thought, ''"probably orphaned by the cipher." She noticed the boy clutching something in his arms. A white scarf. "Hey!" she exclaimed, reaching for it. The boy shrunk away. Zenith pulled back. "They're probably traumatized," she thought. "Perhaps a different approach." She extended a hand out to the girl. The girl cringed. "Who are you?" asked Zenith. The girl didn't answer. "It's okay. I won't hurt you, I promise. I'm a friend." The girl looked up at Zenith. She seemed to be struggling to form words. "D-Diana," she said. "I...I am...Diana." She seemed ready to cry. "He's...Isaiah." She gestured to her companion, who looked just as scared as her. "Is he your brother?" asked Zenith. Diana nodded. "Where are your parents?" Diana broke down. She fell to her knees in the mud and began to cry. Zenith knelt down, in understanding. "Shh, it's okay," said Zenith, holding the two children in her arms. "Let it out. Let it all out." Diana and Isaiah sobbed for several minutes. Zenith knew their plight, and she was tempted to cry with them. To cry for every child in this world that lost their parents to the new order. The two children looked up to Zenith with identical pairs of golden eyes. "Can you help us?" asked Diana. Zenith nodded. "I can take you someplace safe," she said. "You two need food and rest- you look terrible. How long were you out wandering?" "I...don't know," said Diana, shivering. Zenith pulled off her cloak and draped it around their shoulders. "You'll be okay, now," she said. "You're with me." She was about to help them up before she remembered her scarf. "Can I see that?" she asked Isaiah. Isaiah held onto it more tightly, wordless. Zenith sighed. "You know what? Keep it." Making a mental note to take the scarf back later when Isaiah wouldn't notice, Zenith pulled the two children gently to their feet. "Follow me." Unbeknowst to them, a silent figure kept vigil over the trio, unaffected by the raging storm. His eyes were narrow, glowing green with slit pupils. His face was drawn and angular, almost cat-like. Another figure materialized beside him in a small burst of blue magic. Her hair was auburn, and her eyes electric-blue. "So...it's true then," said the woman. The man nodded. "I didn't want to believe it, but the fact that they would appear so far out here...I can't imagine what happened..." "I can hardly believe it either," said the man. "She was the strongest of us all...now that she's gone..." The woman nodded in silent understanding. "What do I tell our allies?" The man was silent for a long while. "The truth," he said, finally. "Tell them that Karma is dead."